a 72-year-old retired professor has been booked for allegedly raping six minor girls living at a government-aided orphanage, while his daughter, who ran it, has been arrested today

In yet another shameful incident shedding light on the increasing cases of sexual abuse of children, a 72-year-old retired professor has been booked for allegedly raping six minor girls living at a government-aided orphanage, while his daughter, who ran it, has been arrested today.

S Shukla, an officer of Women and Child Development department, got suspicious during a routine counselling of the orphans some weeks ago. She called them for another round of counselling in presence of District Collector O P Shrivastava and other officers concerned yesterday, Davis said.

Six girls claimed Agrawal raped them repeatedly. An FIR was lodged against Agrawal and his daughter under relevant sections of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act late last night, police said.

Shaila has been sent in police remand till tomorrow by a local court, they said.

The data accumulated by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals that at least 34, 651 cases of rape were reported across India in 2015, in which the victims ranged from female children younger than six years old to women over 60 years.

Those aged between 18 and 30 reported the largest number of rape attacks – totalling almost 17,000.

According to data compiled by the NCRB for 2015, 8,800 cases of rape on children were registered across the country under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).